“Well they sure became fast friends.” Our neighbor gesturing to his two kiddos and our two girls where only a chain link fence separates them.
Anytime we go to the park and a kid shows kindness to Penny (including her in tag, letting her go down the slide first, saying “hi my name is…”) she instantly tells me she made a new friend and hopes they’re there the next time we come to the park.
We have multiple books on the subject of friends/friendship.
A lot of little kid tv shows focus around being a good friend.

So when and why do the fast friendships of childhood end?
What is the turning point where we start putting a criteria on people that we’re going to allow into our inner circle?
Why do we form cliques and start excluding humans who are just as desperate for love and friendly affection as we are?

If I read an article, book, or even an Instagram caption that speaks to me I will write it down in a note. I typically pull from these quotes or thoughts to write my blog posts or post my own captions on Instagram.
Today I had this thought that I want to post things as they come to me instead of having them planned out in advance, or instead of seeking that perfect photo to snap to go along with the words I have in mind to share. It’s an effort to be more present; to share what’s currently rumbling through my heart and head.

So this is where I’ve chosen to dump all the little tidbits I’ve previously gathered.
Get ready to read. Are you set? GO!

Unfortunately not all apologies are immediately accepted.
Or sometimes the apology is accepted but the work that goes into the healing is stunted.

It felt as though we were all traveling through life on a train and this new information caused one car (the one that held these family members) to derail, while the rest of the train continued moving on down the track.

For the following year there wasn’t much communication past the first apologies I made. We had moved to a new state so face-to-face conversations were no longer possible. I mourned the loss of relationships as I continued to pour my heart out through text and email only to be met with what felt like rejection after rejection.

A year passed.

We moved back.

Reconciliation is still a desire, I’m just not sure how or when to continue approaching each person.

I read ‘I Thought We’d Never Speak Again : the road from estrangement to reconciliation’ by Laura Davis.

The rest of this post will be everything that stood out to me from that book. Continue reading →

This is my biggest struggle in my head when it comes to talking with people : don’t talk about myself too much, don’t talk about other people because I don’t want to be a gossip, don’t be lame and talk about the weather, don’t be too nosy, so what is there left to talk about?!?

If you find yourself in the same boat, try using one or two of these questions to get the conversation going.